


Not So Fake After All

by kenzz_95



Series: Trektober 2020 [21]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Uhura playing Jim's common sense filter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27126619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenzz_95/pseuds/kenzz_95
Summary: When Jim fakes a marriage to Bones in order to get out of having to marry some random alien lady on a diplomatic mission, he doesn't expect to actually enjoy the experience. And the last thing he expects is to realize that maybe he's loved Bones all along, but things rarely go as he expects them to.
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Series: Trektober 2020 [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948633
Comments: 24
Kudos: 153
Collections: Trektober 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Trektober Day 21: Fake Relationship
> 
> So you may notice that this is another one I didn't put in one single one shot. HOWEVER I did actually finish this story, it's just 8k words and I realized that I could also use it for one of Saturday's prompts that I couldn't figure out what to do with. So, second/final chapter on Saturday. I'm making this two chapters instead of two parts because I like my complete works to be, like, actually complete. I'm bending the rules of Trektober again. What else is new?

Sometimes, Jim’s job was just really fucking weird. Well, actually it was weird most of the time, but sometimes it was weirder than usual. That was the first thing he would tell cadets if and when they threw him back into a teaching position again. The second thing was that diplomacy was somehow a million times more boring and a million times more interesting than The Academy let on, all at the same time and often on the same mission. This was one of those times. 

They weren’t on a first contact mission, which was fine because those were stressful as hell, instead they were acting as representatives of the Federation to a prospective member planet. The native people there, the Trandians, had had contact with the Federation in the past, and had expressed interest but they were a bit solitary, mostly wanting in on the Federation for the mutual defense bit. This planet had dilithium, so the Federation was down with the arrangement, and it fell to Jim to iron out the details, which meant days on end filled with boring meetings. There was a surprise, though, because there always was.

The woman was really hot. Like, unbelievably, absurdly hot. If Jim had run into her at a bar, there would’ve been no question about what would’ve happened next, despite the fact that he really didn’t do that so often anymore. But he hadn’t met her at a bar, he met her because she was the daughter of one of the planet’s high counselors and, _as a token of their respect and appreciation_ and _a show of unity between their respective cultures_ , she was being presented to Jim to _marry_. So, instead of making him horny, the sight of the wildly attractive woman standing before him in practically nothing at all, looking at him with an expression that was both nervous and intentionally seductive, just made Jim feel gross. Jim was not going to have a weird arranged marriage, he wasn’t even sure if he wanted a regular marriage, there was no way in hell he was going to hitch himself to some random alien woman being given to him like a goddamn bottle of wine, who looked like an only somewhat willing participant in all this.

“The giving of one in marriage is a significant one in our culture,” the high counselor explained when Jim still hadn’t said anything, “You will accept this gift.”

Everyone was watching him, waiting to see what he would do. His crew were mostly watching with interest, wondering just how Captain Kirk would get himself out of this one, but the high council was watching with more guarded expressions. He didn’t know what to do. Well, he obviously knew he had to refuse, he just didn’t know how to do it without causing some great offense and blowing this whole thing up before it even really started. This was a people who were proud of their culture, and their biggest hang up when it came to being part of the Federation was that they would need to dilute their own cultural practices, and Jim was worried if he flat out said “actually we consider giving another person as a gift to be immoral and unethical and against the basic tenants of _our_ culture” it would not go over well. So he wracked his brain, trying to remember the mission briefings he had read about this place before he came down here, and damn there may actually be something in there that could work. Jim just went for it before he could talk himself out of it.

“I am very grateful for the honor. Truly. In any other circumstance, I would be glad to accept, however I am actually already married and our people, like yours, are strictly monogamous,” Jim explained in his best diplomat voice. The strictly was a bit of a stretch, but he hoped he would be long gone before they realized that part wasn’t necessarily true for all humans.

The leader of the high council nodded sagely,

“We understand. To which of these are you wed?”

Dammit, Jim had forgotten about how weirdly codependent Trandian marriages seemed from human eyes. In their culture, marriage practically joined two people at the hip. In fact, each member of the high council was joined by their spouse at the long, trapezoid table they were seated at. To them, it would be customary to bring their spouses with them on a mission like this, and unthinkable for their spouse not to be on the ship with them. Jim plastered on a grin, realized he was going to be _killed_ for what he was about to do once he was alone, and then grabbed Bones’ hand from where the other man was standing next to him.

“My chief medical officer, Dr. McCoy, and I have been married for several years now.”

Sulu literally had to shove his hand into his mouth to keep from laughing, Uhura’s eyes blew wide, and even Spock had some noticeable amusement in his eyes. Jim hoped the Trandians weren’t good at reading human - and Vulcan - body language yet, and he hoped that even more when he looked over at Bones, who was gaping like a fish and, once he recovered, probably about 10 seconds away from yanking his hand away and yelling at him. Hoping to prevent that, Jim leaned in, pressed a quick kiss to Bones’ cheek before dragging his lips to his ear and hissing,

“Just go with it.”

Bones, bless the man, said nothing, but appeared to even out his expression a little bit, though Jim could see the slightly murderous look forming behind those deep hazel eyes. He was going to have hell to pay for this later.

If any of the Trandians had seen Bones pull him into a closet after the meeting was over, they probably assumed it was for something quite a bit sexier than it actually was. In reality, as soon as the door closed on the little supply closet Bones had pulled them into, he dropped Jim’s hand like it was made of hot coals and snapped,

“You have thirty seconds to explain to me what the hell that was.”

“Oh, come on Bones, what was I supposed to do? It was the only way I could think of to get out of marrying some random alien lady!”

“Oh, I dunno, Jim, maybe you could’ve _made up a spouse that wasn’t there_?”

“You’ve seen how codependent those guys are! Marriage is _everything_ to them, their spouse is like an extension of themselves, there’s no way they would’ve believed I was married to someone back on earth. It’s not that big of a deal, Bones, it’s not like we actually have to get married.”

“It’s not a big deal? The hell it isn’t! They’re making us their guests of honor! We’re stuck playing this game until you get this deal hammered out!”

Oh, and there was that minor detail. Jim wasn’t the happiest about that either, how after he escaped the arranged married, the Trandian council had insisted that the Enterprise command team spend the duration of the negotiations on Trandia and Jim, pretty much out of bargaining chips by then having used them all to get out of the marriage, had agreed. So Jim had to play Bones’ husband in every public moment for a week, at least. Probably longer. Jim sighed and dragged his fingers through his hair,

“I don’t like it either, but I don’t know what you expect me to do about it. If we own up to lying now, the whole thing’ll fall apart. I’m sorry, but I didn’t see any other options.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Bones agreed, tone softening. The doctor could hold onto a grudge forever, it seemed, but with Jim his anger always burned hot and fast then dissipated completely. Bones just could never stay mad at him for long. Jim found he had the same problem. “We should get our story straight,” Bones suggested, “If we’re stuck doing this, we shouldn’t get tripped up on the details. You said we’d been married for a few years, right?”

“Uh, yeah, maybe we can go with 4? Say we got married right before the Enterprise relaunched after Kahn?” Jim didn’t know why, but that just felt right to him. It fell within the timeframe he’d thrown out at random, and he hadn’t slept around a ton since then. Plus, there was no way in hell Bones would ever get married on the Enterprise and their more recent Enterprise destroying disaster had been less than a year ago, not nearly enough time.

Bones nodded, “We can say it was a small private ceremony at the courthouse in San Francisco, so no there aren’t any holos if they ask.”

“And we started dating after graduation.”

“That seems fast.”

“That’s two years! And it’s not a real marriage anyways, what does it matter?”

“Suppose it doesn’t,” Bones conceded, “We should keep the rest of the details as close to real life as possible, it’s best not to forget. And we’re gonna have to tell all the crew all of this, aren’t we?”

“Yeah,” Jim realized, “Yeah, I think we are.”

All told, the first day wasn’t so bad. The negotiations wouldn’t actually begin until the next day, and the reception was kind of nice, actually. These guys knew how to put on a good party. There was so much going on the whole time that Jim didn’t feel overly scrutinized, and let himself forget about the fact that he was pretending to be married to his best friend. All that meant, really, in a setting like this, was that Jim couldn’t flirt with anyone else, which he wasn’t really planning on doing anyways. Bones already spent a lot of time at Jim’s side at these things - somehow, his extroverted self had ended up with varying degrees of introvert for his CMO and his XO, which led to him sometimes feeling a bit like a mother duck at parties like this - and it wasn’t like they were expected to hold hands the whole time. Jim had actually ended up explaining the situation at the reception itself, Enterprise senior crew standing tightly in a circle and speaking in hushed tones as they made sure everyone was up to speed. Everyone also, as it was, was laughing. Seemed like the whole crew found this situation to be an absolute riot. All save for Spock, who probably would’ve been laughing if Vulcans actually did that. As it was, he was very clearly amused in that Spock way that was really only noticeable to people who knew him well. Even Jim had to admit it was a bit funny. He and Bones had been mistaken for a couple dozens of times, and having to play at it now was just typical. It was funny, but there was nobody he’d rather be fake married to, he realized. Especially when they saw their sleeping arrangements.

Of course the Trandians put Jim and Bones up in the same room. Jim had figured that. After all, they were _married_ . Supposedly. But what he hadn’t expected was to be put up in what looked to be a goddamn honeymoon suite, despite their claim of 4 years of marriage. It was..a lot. The bed was covered in silky smooth sheets, there was a bathtub obviously built for two, and the lighting never seemed to go above a nice warm romantic tone. Bones fake gagged when he saw it all and Jim laughed because with anyone else this would have been intensely awkward, but with Bones it was just real damn funny. At this point, Jim didn’t even know if awkward with Bones was even a _thing_ anymore, especially not as Bones took a bath - solo, obviously - and Jim rooted through the bathroom cabinets, laughing at all the insane alien paraphernalia he found there. Bones had yelled at him to leave him alone to bathe in peace. Jim had thrown a bouncy alien dildo at his head. It was what it was.

The bed was fine, too, other than the fact that Jim had always hated silk sheets and never understood what was supposed to be so sexy about them. They just made him sweat and slide around a lot. But he had shared a bed platonically before, with Bones and with others, because it was just sleeping and they weren’t 15 so it didn’t have to be weird, and it wasn’t. Although it probably would’ve been a bit better if the bed wasn’t just _barely_ built for two, clearly a result of the Trandians desire to be close to their spouse at all times, but it was fine. Bones always got cold at night and Jim ran warm, so they spooned and it was normal and not at all a big deal. Really.

The second day, things got weirder. Jim had only just managed to extract Bones from having to attend all the negotiations alongside him, explaining that in their culture that wasn’t a thing and that Bones would be more useful elsewhere, in a number of medical-related discussions that were to be had. Mostly, though, Jim did it because he was about 98% sure that if this fake marriage resulted in Bones having to sit through diplomatic meetings all day, then the other man would literally murder him. The only thing Bones hated more than boring conferences was boring conferences that had nothing at all to do with him. So Jim was sequestered in some boring negotiations all day with Spock and Uhura and the whole Trandian high council and Bones went off to do whatever it was he did all day. It was fine, at least until after lunch, another affair that involved the whole senior crew. Jim figured you could say what you want to about these guys but they sure knew how to lay down a welcome mat.

Bones was still picking through a salad, running his tricorder over ingredients he didn’t recognize because as much as he teased Jim about being a picky eater, Bones was not one to just trust some aliens they barely knew weren’t going to unintentionally poison them. Uhura didn’t seem to care, though, that Bones was still eating when she grabbed both him and Jim by their wrists and dragged them out into the hall.

“You guys are _terrible_ at this,” Uhura complained, glaring at the both of them.

“What?!” they asked, speaking simultaneously. Jim looked at Bones and grinned. Bones rolled his eyes.

“You aren’t even acting married, I’ve been listening in on some of the Trandians and they noticed.”

“How the hell do they even know what human relationships look like?” Jim asked at the same time as Bones scoffed,

“What do they want us to do, fuck in front of the salad bar?”

Jim laughed and nudged Bones with his shoulder. Bones smiled. Uhura threw up her hands, 

“You guys are acting more married _now_ than you were in there! The first officer and chief engineer on the Kennedy are married, and they spent several weeks down here for first contact. They’ve seen human relationships before.”

“Damn Kennedy,” Bones mumbled under his breath.

“Oh yeah, their CMO is an asshole, right?” Jim asked. Bones had strong opinions on basically every CMO in the fleet. 

“And incompetent as hell,” Bones added.

“The point is,” Uhura cleared her throat, leveling them both with a look, “You two need to play it up even just a little if you want them to buy this whole married thing. These people aren’t stupid. The ‘say you’re married then keep acting like just friends as usual’ act isn’t going to work forever, and Jim, I don’t think I need to remind you that it will not be good if this falls apart. Figure something out.”

And with that, she turned on her heel and headed back into the banquet hall where they were all eating lunch, leaving Jim and Bones in the hallway alone.

“So,” Jim cleared his throat, “Is that okay with you? Are you okay putting on a bit of a show for these guys?”

“‘Okay’ ain’t the word I’d go with here, Jim.”

“I’m serious. We could probably figure out another way to explain it, if we really had to. I don’t want to fuck us up because you feel like you have to cross lines because of some dumb shit I got us into.”

Bones squeezed Jim’s shoulder and gave him a hint of a smile,

“Jim, we’re fine. It’s not the ideal situation, but I’ll go along with it. Besides, it’s not like they _actually_ want us to fuck in front of the salad bar.”

“As far as I can tell public sex doesn’t seem to be their thing, so I think we’re safe there. It’s just, what, like holding hands or whatever?”

“No big deal,” Bones nodded, “It’s not like we’re Vulcans.”

“Some people hold hands with their friends. Sure, it’s mostly teenage girls and it’s never been our thing, but it doesn’t have to be weird.”

“Of course not. This doesn’t need to go further than a kiss on the cheek, really, and that’s not weird either. Some cultures practically kiss every damn person they meet.”

“Not weird,” Jim agreed.

“Not weird,” Bones confirmed, placing his hand in Jim’s as they walked back into the banquet hall to finish their lunch.

It was weird. Jim was stuck in meetings for the rest of the day, so they were spared having to pretend, but then dinner came and it was another communal affair. That seemed to be a favored thing here. Jim and Bones walked hand in hand, and it shouldn’t have felt weird but it did feel oddly intimate and Jim couldn’t stop noticing how nice Bones’ hands were. That made sense, he was a surgeon, but they were so steady and secure in Jim’s that it felt like Bones was keeping his feet on the ground even more literally than he usually was. 

The changes were really mostly small. They were still technically working, it wouldn’t have been appropriate of them to be making out during the dinner regardless of the reality of their marriage. It was mostly arms around shoulders - a normal touch in their friendship made more public - and hands held and leaning further into each other’s space to whisper to each other during dinner. Uhura shot them a covert thumbs up from across the table, so Jim was pretty sure they were doing alright. It all felt off, though. Actually, the weird thing was how not weird it was. Having Bones this close was nice, as it turns out. Jim was a tactile person, and this felt as natural as anything ever did with Bones. Even when Bones dropped a hand on Jim’s thigh, leaned over, and pressed a kiss to Jim’s cheek. It didn’t feel as forced as Jim had figured it would. And that was weird.

It stopped being weird pretty much after that second day. Integrating these additional little touches into his friendship with Bones felt natural and right, and by the afternoon of the third day Jim realized he wasn’t even really trying anymore. He didn’t know what that said about them, honestly. He chose not to think about it. But it was fine, they had always been close, and this was just an extension of that. And it was only for the mission anyways. It was on the fifth night that Jim realized that may not be entirely true, and then he freaked out a bit.

They were just going to bed, and Jim had his whole body wrapped around Bones, spooning him tightly, as was the habit they had fallen into. Jim had spent the better part of the evening slumped into Bones’ side while reviewing his notes from that day’s meetings. They had held hands most of the time. And just then, right before Bones ordered the lights off, he pressed a kiss to Jim’s cheek and Jim turned and returned the gesture. With a start so severe that he sat up in bed, Jim suddenly realized all they had been doing, somehow completely unconsciously over the past few days. Or, well, Jim had known what they were doing, of course he had, he had known but somehow he hadn’t _noticed_ until then that the show they were putting on had somehow extended into their personal private life as well.

“You okay, darlin’?” Bones mumbled into his pillow, somehow already half asleep and slipping into the for public use only pet name he had bestowed upon Jim these past few days.

“Yeah, uhhh…” Jim didn’t know what to say about this, mostly because he didn’t know how to feel. Kisses on cheeks and holding hands and holding each other and pet names...it was so natural and good that they were doing it when they were alone now. And Jim realized he didn’t want it to stop when this mission was over. It would’ve been one thing if the touches were just a turn on, he could’ve dealt with that. Bones was hot, Jim had eyes, whatever. But the touches didn’t burn red and hot, they filled Jim with a sunny golden warmth that he had no idea what to do with. He certainly didn’t want to stop.

“Computer, lights 50%,” Bones ordered, pushing himself up on an elbow when Jim didn’t answer right away. “Talk to me,” he requested, looking at Jim in the dim light.

“I’m fine,” Jim promised, lying back down next to Bones and grabbed the hand his friend wasn’t using to prop up his head with. “I just realized, ya know, how nice this is.”

“You always have been a touchy son of a bitch,” Bones laughed lightly.

“Bones…”

“You’re overthinking this, aren’t you?”

“Actually, I think I was underthinking it and am now thinking about it the normal amount.”

“On the contrary, Jim, I don’t think you’re capable of thinking about something a normal amount,” Bones argued, “Your mind is either so completely empty I could see out the other end if I looked in your ear or racing around with a million thoughts a second. No in between.”

“Hey!” Jim exclaimed in mock offense, shoving Bones on the shoulder just hard enough to make him fall back on the bed laughing. Bones laughing always made Jim feel all warm, like he’d just drank a cup of hot cocoa on a cold winter day. And Bones did it for him more than he did it for anyone else. It was great. Jim laid back down on the bed, placing his head on Bones’ chest. Bones smiled, more serious now as he tangled a hand in Jim’s hair.

“Quit freakin’ out. You and I are fine,” Bones assured him. That hadn’t been what Jim was thinking about, really, but it was always good to hear.

“Yeah?” Jim asked, for lack of anything else to say.

“More than,” Bones confirmed, “Always.”

“Ya know,” Jim said, settling into Bones’ chest, “I don’t think I really wanna get married for real.”

“Okay? Anyone askin’ ya?”

“No, I just can’t see myself wanting to dedicate my whole life to someone else. ‘Cept you, of course. But that’s different.”

Bones’ hand stilled in his hair and the other man was intensely quiet for a minute, not saying a single word as Jim felt his heart thump under his head. Finally, when he did speak, he was a bit breathless.

“Is it, though?”

Jim turned his head to look at Bones and caught wide hazel eyes and the look of a man who’d just stumbled on something incredibly profound.

“What?” Jim asked and Bones opened his mouth, shut it again, then sighed,

“Nothin’, Jim. Go to sleep, these negotiations ain’t gonna negotiate themselves.”

With that, Bones seemed to declare the conversation officially closed but Jim didn’t move back onto his own pillow. He was comfortable, safe and warm resting on Bones’ chest. He decided he could sleep like that all night if Bones would let him. And as it turns out, he did.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trektober Day 24: Diplomatic Mission
> 
> May I interest you in some more fluff? 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Jim kissed Bones for the first time on the morning of the seventh day of the negotiations. They were dragging on for a long time, longer than anyone wanted, and Jim had authorized shore leave for any crew not actively working on these negotiations. That meant that people like Bones and Scotty, who had a cursory role in tech and information sharing and all that but hardly were busy full time, just got to relax in between sessions that required their presence. Jim didn’t really know what Bones did all day. The previous night the entire senior crew had ventured out into the capital city to get drinks together and the bartender had known Bones and Scotty by name, so apparently that was one thing his best friend and his chief engineer had been doing with their time off.

He’d spent the previous night like he had every night the past week, all curled up in bed with Bones, and dammit he was getting used to that. He slept better wrapped up around his best friend, and he wondered how Bones would take to the idea of sleeping over sometimes when they got back on the Enterprise. After a big breakfast - and seriously Jim was going to gain several kilos on this mission - Bones walked with him to the negotiation room, just like he always did. That hadn’t been their normal, but they figured it would look good for their whole fake married thing since Bones was the only “spouse” not sitting in on the meetings. Bones gave him a quick hug goodbye because it helped with the whole “it’s going to be so hard to be without my love all day” thing they were playing at, and then Jim kissed him. On the lips. It was quick, nothing more than a peck, and it was over before Jim even realized he was doing it. It felt like a natural extension of where they were now, and, well, if exchanging little kisses everywhere else on their faces made Jim feel all warm and golden inside then a little kiss on the lips would surely be even better, right? And it was. Something pulled deep in Jim’s gut that only intensified when he met Bones’ wide eyes and soft smile. He wanted to repeat the gesture, but for longer and deeper and  _ more _ but they were in public and Jim had to go into a meeting and the fact that Jim suddenly had this near compulsion to have Bones take him apart then put him back together again wasn’t what was important right now. So he smiled, clapped Bones on the shoulder, and said his goodbyes as he ducked into the conference room.

“Okay, Jim, what’s going on?” Uhura asked him, pulling him aside in a hallway on their way to lunch.

“Nothing? I’m hungry, can we table whatever this is?” Jim requested. He was hungry, and also Bones would be at lunch. He wanted to see Bones again. He always wanted to see Bones again.  _ That _ wasn’t new.

“You and McCoy,” Uhura clarified, making no indication that she was going to allow Jim to escape this conversation for food and Bones.

“What about us? Are we not doing well? I thought we were playing this fine, actually. What more could they possibly want from us? Do they need to catch us making out somewhere or something, because let me tell you Ny I don’t think that’s going to be an easy sell for Bones.”

Uhura raised her eyebrows and sighed, “You two are doing great. Above and beyond, really. Which is actually what I’m asking about. Last night at the bar, we had a private room, there was a nearly zero chance that we’d run into anyone from the high council there and you and McCoy were still all over each other.”

“Geez, you make it sound like we were making out right there at the table. I don’t think holding hands really qualifies as ‘being all over each other’. Why do you care, anyways?”

“You kissed him this morning. On the lips. You haven’t done that before. People don’t do this with their friends, Jim.”

“I don’t care what ‘people’ do, it’s what Bones and I do. We both like where we’re at, it’s not like either of us are  _ uncomfortable _ with it, so I don’t get what you’re so concerned about.”

Uhura was wearing a look like she was trying to explain warp mechanics to a toddler. She sighed,

“Look, we’re close friends, right?”

“Uh, yeah, why?” Jim asked. Of course they were close. They had been for years. Bones excepting, of course, Uhura was probably his best friend on the ship. Well, there was also Spock, but Spock was only occasionally in the mood to keep up the intricacies of personal human conversations, so their friendship was a bit different. Regardless, it felt like a stupid question and a non-sequitar at that.

“So it wouldn’t make you uncomfortable if a mission required us to kiss and hold hands in public? It wouldn’t feel  _ weird _ ? Like you were pretending to date your own sister?” Uhura asked, eyebrows raised in a challenge. Jim just stared at her. Because it was different with Bones, of course it was different with Bones. It was a ridiculous comparison, really. Because of course he liked Uhura, she was like the sister he never had, but it was  _ different _ . Really, his and Bones’ friendship was more like a romantic relationship in a lot of ways so of course it was...wait. His and Bones’...he and Bones...shit. The epiphany hit him like a wave, something that should’ve been so obvious for so long. He’d even heard it before, from friends. He and Bones were more married than most married couples were anyways. He’d heard it before, but never really  _ thought _ about it. Never really thought about how he was completely aware of the fact that he couldn’t imagine spending the rest of his life dedicated to one person except for Bones, he’d said it himself, but he never realized the  _ implications _ of that before. Because there were implications there, and they were heavy. And then there was the fact that all the physical stuff they’d recently fallen into didn’t feel weird or forced or unnatural, it just felt like a natural extension of them, like they could’ve and should’ve been holding each other physically as long as they’d been holding each other emotionally, which had been  _ years _ at that point.

“There it is,” Uhura declared, nodding and turning on her heel to head to lunch, leaving Jim standing in the hallway alone, mouth agape and practically knocked off his feet by everything that he just realized. Damn. This was going to change everything.

The thing was, the more Jim thought about it, the more he realized that this whole realization that maybe he was a little bit in love with his best friend and maybe by a lot of measures he was already sort of in a relationship with said best friend didn’t really need to change much. He and Bones already spent all their free time together, they didn’t keep secrets from each other, and they could read each other like a damn book. Jim felt like he and Bones knew most everything about each other at this point. Hell, the previous year Bones had thrown him a damn birthday party despite his standing policy that they all just pretend that Jim didn’t  _ have _ a birthday. And it had been far and away the best birthday of Jim’s life, because Bones had known he was ready, had known what he wanted even better than he did. And as for himself, he knew how to cheer Bones up when he’d had a hard day or was missing his daughter, he knew which of Bones’ moods were real and which were a front, and he went out of his way to do little things that he knew would make Bones smile, and Bones did the same for him. They even talked about their futures in tandem, “when  _ we _ retire” and all that. Jim had never been in love before, but he was pretty sure they were checking all the boxes already. So, what, they’d just add sex to what they were already doing? That was more than okay with him. Bones was hot and sure he’d thought about it, he’d thought about it a lot actually. And he was sure it would be great because not only was Bones stupid fucking attractive - Jim had always just marked that one down as an objective given - but Jim felt safe and warm and happy with Bones. That would be new for him. Suddenly he wanted more than anything to experience that, that blend of sex and the feeling of  _ home _ he got when the two of them were together.

Jim, however, said nothing. It wasn’t because he was scared of fucking them up, because Bones had promised him  _ always _ \- and damn they really were pretty much already in a relationship, weren’t they? - and he trusted that. The two of them were generally on the same page about things that mattered, so he was expecting a good outcome to that eventual conversation. It wasn’t about being afraid of anything, it was more the worry that regardless of Bones’ take on this particular situation, this would by necessity change the way they were in public and he was  _ so close _ to nailing down the deal with the Trandians and if they found out the whole marriage thing was a lie it would all come crashing down. So Jim kept his mouth shut, he used his brain-to-mouth filter with Bones for the first time in  _ years _ and nothing changed.

The negotiations took two whole weeks, but by the end of it they had a new member of the Federation, pending some logistical and legal bullshit from Federation higher ups. It was all but a done deal, though, and to celebrate the Trandian high council was throwing a massive party because  _ of course _ they were. These guys knew how to have a good time. There was to be food and drinks and live music and dancing and it was all being held in this huge outdoor pavilion that would allow each and every single member of the Enterprise crew to attend - well, there still had to be a skeleton crew on the ship but other than that - as well as pretty much anyone of significance in the Trandian capital city. Bones had labeled it a boring formal party pretty much right away, mostly because he was pissed he’d have to wear his dress uniform, but Jim was excited. Weird customs of trying to marry off high counselors’ daughters to strangers aside, the Trandians were pretty cool, their local food was delicious, and the limited sampling Jim’d had with the local nightlife was fun and unique. He was looking forward to the evening. One final day on this planet before they all returned to the Enterprise and onto whatever mission they were assigned to next.

And the party  _ was _ good. The food was delicious as usual, they were in that weird blend of off duty and on that allowed Jim to feel justified having more than one drink, and he spent the majority of the party being followed around by his more introverted CMO and XO, which he secretly loved. And that wasn’t just a Bones thing. Sometimes Spock would follow Uhura around social gatherings and that always disappointed Jim. He liked his little antisocial tagalongs - well, Bones was actually pretty social with people he knew but damn did that man have an aversion to the concept of smalltalk with strangers.

The party wasn’t terribly formal, not boring and stuffy like a lot of shit they went to, and there was lots of music he didn’t know how to dance to. He tried anyways, mimicking the Trandians movements in a way that left Bones in stitches on the side of the dance floor, and it was fun and good and he didn’t care if one or more of his senior crew was recording this for blackmail. 

As the night wore on, things started to get a bit calmer, people started to trickle out, and the music turned a bit slower. Jim  _ still _ didn’t have a clue how to dance like the Trandians, their slow dances were no less confusing to him than their fast ones, but he did know how to dance like a human. Sort of. He was sitting at an otherwise empty table with Bones, they were holding hands and Bones was stroking Jim's fingers with his thumb lazily and he decided to do what he did best. He followed his gut instinct.

“Bones, dance with me.”

“Are you kidding me, Jim? I can’t do…” Bones gestured widely at the dance floor in front of him where the Trandians were doing some sort of perplexing slow dance, “Whatever the hell that is. And neither can you, last I checked.”

“We don’t have to do that,” Jim pointed out. Interspersed with the colorfully dressed Trandians were members of the Enterprise crew in their gray dress uniforms, paired up and dancing in ways that were a bit more familiar.

For a second it looked like Bones was going to say no, but then he sighed and stood up, “Okay, let’s get this over with.”

They did not “get it over with”. They had started out fun, casual, and familiar. It wasn’t the first time they’d danced together, they’d done it as friends a handful of times at assorted gatherings Bones never wanted to be at. Neither of them were by any stretch of the imagination  _ good _ at dancing, but they had fun. Sometimes Jim led and sometimes Bones led but most often neither or both of them were leading at the same time. Jim dipped Bones just to watch his friend get all indignant about it, they tried to imitate what the Trandians were doing and Jim ended up tripping over Bones’ feet and falling flat on his ass, it was good and fun and not all that serious. But at some point that changed, Jim couldn’t identify where exactly, and then they were giving up any attempts to actually  _ dance _ and instead were holding each other and swaying to the music like they were at some very strange secondary school dance. Not that Jim had ever gone to one of those, but he understood the basic idea.

Their foreheads were pressed together, the two men in each others’ space in every definition of the word. Neither of them were saying much anymore, as opposed to earlier when neither had shut up while they danced and laughed their way around the room. The only things their lips were doing were kissing each other, both of them dropping little pecks repeatedly on each others’ lips. Jim wanted more, though, so the next time Bones pressed his lips to his, Jim opened his mouth and pressed closer before Bones pulled away, kissing him for real for the first time. Bones leaned into it eagerly and it was probably the best thing Jim had ever felt in his life. Nothing had ever felt more right. But then Bones was pulling away and looking at him with lidded eyes and mumbling,

“Let’s get outta here.”

And who was Jim to argue with an idea like that?

Sex with Bones was unlike anything Jim had ever experienced before. In fact, it kind of made him wonder if Bones had ruined him for anyone else. It was so many things all at once, and it all combined to equal the best experience Jim had ever had in bed, and he had the numbers to make that a pretty significant feat. It wasn’t that they had done anything special, but it had been special anyways. It had been significant from the moment Bones pushed him against the wall of the stupid honeymoon suite they had one more night in and, while pulling off his dress uniform jacket, had said “I need to make sure you really wanna do this.” Jim did, of course he did, he wanted nothing more, but it was important to Bones that they were on the same page with something this big and that made Jim feel all kinds of safe and comfortable. 

And then there had been the bit where even though they had never seen each other in bed before, they knew each other well enough to be able to interpret every little reaction as “yes, I like that”, “no, I don’t like that”, or ambivalent before words were even spoken about it. They chased each others’ pleasure, and Jim had never cared so little about his own in the face of making sure Bones was happy and satisfied. But the journey was even more important than the destination and dammit Bones had made him laugh as they made their way there. Multiple times. It wasn’t as if Jim had been uncomfortable with his past partners, but there was something else entirely about being with Bones in this way. Because being with Bones was always different than being with anyone else - good different, of course - so it was only reasonable that that extend to the bedroom.

Once it was all over, Jim snuggled into Bones’ side, just where he fit perfectly, and sighed happily. 

“We should talk about this,” he finally suggested.

“‘Suppose so,” Bones agreed, looking more at the ceiling than at Jim.

“Bones,” Jim said more firmly, because he wanted his friend to look at him, knew this conversation had to happen. They were leaving Trandia in the morning, and they had just  _ had sex _ . There was no more illusion to keep up, they’d moved past that a long time ago.

Jim flipped on his belly, resting his head on his arms and looking at Bones. Bones sighed and flipped as well, onto his side and propping his elbow up on the mattress to rest his head on his hand.

“I don’t wanna stop if that’s what you’re worried about,” Bones assured him. Those hazel eyes held something strangely unreadable. Jim shook his head,

“No, I mean I know, but I’m not worried about anything really. I just...Bones, I think we’re sorta dating.”

Bones snorted, “Yeah, sure seems that way, doesn’t it.”

“And not just for the ruse.”

“Of course not, that has no place here, not when we’re alone.”

“And not just because of the ruse,” Jim said finally, “Bones, I think you’ve been my partner in every real way other than physically for...a really fucking long time at this point. Also...I think I’m in love with you.”

“You think?” Bones asked, which kind of annoyed Jim because he wanted more than that, more of an indication of what Bones was thinking.

“Well, I’ve never been in love before, so I’m just guessing really, but I’m pretty sure this is it.”

“Yeah,” Bones agreed,  _ finally _ , “I think it’s been some time since we were last really ‘just friends’. How long have you figured this, exactly?”

Jim felt like jumping for joy. He knew Bones would be on the same page as him, he  _ knew _ it. “About a week. Uh, Uhura kinda had to tell me.” Bones arched an eyebrow so he continued, “Well, she didn’t  _ tell me _ , she just hinted at it until I finally had an epiphany about this whole thing.”

“Guess I can’t judge too harshly, after all you had to tell me.”

“You mean just now?” Jim asked. Wow, Bones was taking this in stride much more than he had.

“No,” Bones rolled his eyes, “No, I did have that figured before the whole sex thing. I mean the beginning of this, when you told me you couldn’t imagine getting married because you didn’t want to dedicate your whole life to someone  _ except me _ . Sorta made me realize some things.”

Jim laughed. This whole situation was so damn funny. And so stupid. “We’re the most oblivious dumbasses to ever live.”

“Can’t argue with ya on that one, kid,” Bones agreed, laughter in his voice as well.

“So,” Jim started, because there were some things they needed to communicate here, “We’re really doing this then? That’s what you want?”

“I love you, Jim. Of course it’s what I want. And besides, in a lot of ways this ain’t that different than before.”

“Okay, but like the sex thing, we’re gonna keep doing that, right?”

“Damn, did I manage to leave an impression on the great Jim Kirk? That’s quite a feat.”

“Oh, you took me apart and you know it,” Jim nudged Bones in the side, shooting him a grin. Bones leaned in and kissed him and if Jim had thought that having had sex with Bones would make kissing Bones any less exciting he was dead wrong on that. He could kiss Bones for the rest of his life, he figured. Maybe he would.

“But to answer your absurd question, yes this is what I want, and yes we’re gonna keep doin’ this,” Bones said finally and then Jim kissed him, long and slow and perfect. 

It was late, and the longer he laid next to Bones all warm and happy and comfortable, the more Jim felt like going to sleep. The transition back to the 24 hours ships’ clock tomorrow was going to kick his ass just like it always did. His lids were getting heavy and he was seriously considering falling asleep right there in Bones’ arms again but apparently Bones wasn’t done talking.

“What time do we gotta be back on the ship tomorrow?”

“Are you kidding me?” Jim groaned, looking up at his best friend. They may have an additional title now, maybe partner or boyfriend or whatever, but that was a conversation for another time and Bones would never not be his best friend, even when he was other things too. “I sent out a priority one message to the entire crew this morning with our departure schedule! Does  _ nobody _ read anything I write?”

“I’m sorry, Jim, I’m sure you worked very hard on what was probably a delightful all-ship message.” Bones’ voice was dripping with sarcasm because finally speaking the unspoken between them didn’t mean they were going to stop teasing each other. Jim didn’t want them to. “The way I figured it, I’d probably have access to the captain at some point, and he ain’t leavin’ me behind anyways.”

“Noon, Bones,” Jim rolled his eyes, “Senior officers need to be back on the ship at noon. All call is at 1. But I’ve got some call with a handful of admirals at 09:30 local time, so I’ve gotta be up there earlier. You can hang around till noon if you want.”

“Yeah, sure, I dunno, but let’s get breakfast tomorrow morning. I found a great place nearby.”   
“Oh my God, Bones, are you asking me on a breakfast date? You are such a softie, damn,” Jim laughed through the smile that was pulling at his cheeks because yes he absolutely wanted that.

“I thought we’d established last year that I’m apparently Mr. Sensitive.”

“You’re the worst. But yes, that sounds great,” Jim yawned as he spoke and Bones’ eyes sparkled as the other man kissed him softly on the lips and he drifted off to sleep in the arms of the man he’d always loved, right where he’d always belong.


End file.
